The story

Iran's supreme leader is warning the thousands of people who have been protesting last week's presidential vote to maintain self-restraint or face a stiff reaction from authorities.

Members of the opposition -- who have staged noisy demonstrations for the last six days to protest what they believe was a rigged election -- are weighing their options after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei drew a line in the sand during his all-important sermon during Friday prayers.

The supreme leader declared last week's presidential election a "definitive victory" for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and sloughed off charges of vote tampering.

"Any extremist move will fan up another extremist move," said Khamenei, who criticized the street protests and said those who caused violence during demonstrations would be held accountable.

"If the political elite want to ignore law and break the law and take wrong measures which are harmful willy nilly, they will be held accountable for all the violence and blood and rioting." Read full article »